‘Laughing Maniac’ terrorizes S.A. women in 1952

The topic I planned for today is postponed because I was distracted by this headline on page 1 of the March 19, 1952, issue :

Whaaaat?

A 35-year-old man was committed to the San Antonio State Hospital after declaring “I am the laughing maniac” to a deputy sheriff who was escorting him to the hospital. He continued on to say “I knock on people’s doors and laugh.”

Turns out it was more serious than a bit of pranking.

On March 13, a woman was attacked in her home — with her young sons nearby –”by a man who laughed as he struggled with her and menaced her with threats of ‘I’m going to kill you and the police will never catch me.’” She fought him and her screams scared him away, whereupon “he was chased by dogs in the neighborhood.”

Police had a suspect in mind; a man who lived within three blocks and had “been arrested several times for molesting women in other parts of South San Antonio.” He was also then considered a suspect in the unsolved Florence Elder murder (which as of last report was still unsolved).

Then, the next day, he struck again. Like the previous incident, he broke into the victim’s home, attacked her and tore her clothes. She told the constable: “He grabbed me and began to tear at my clothing. All the while he was alternately laughing and mumbling filthy words. I won’t even repeat them.” She screamed and he ran off, scared by the barking of her dogs.

There had been several reports of a “peeping tom” in the area looking in windows. One woman called police after being “awakened by a man removing a window screen from her home.” He reached through and grabbed her arm, but fled when she screamed.

One suspect had been released, and another had been reported shot by a homeowner. A woman told police ”that a man knocked on her window and said, ‘You’ve heard of me. I’m called the laughing maniac.’ He fled when she threatened to shoot him.”

Meanwhile, Capt. Joe Hester of the police department asked the pranksters imitating the “laughing maniac” to stop it. “‘It’s getting to the ridiculous stage now,’ Hester said, ‘with children knocking on windows and laughing. Even some grown-up people are pranksters. Someone may get shot.’” Patrolmen had been answering prowler calls, but “all of them had turned out to be just pranksters.”

Sadly, a four-year-old girl was shot and killed several days later by the accidental discharge of a rifle kept loaded in a closet as protection against an attack.

The man claiming to be the “maniac” was committed to the hospital for 90 days. I did not find any additional stories about a resolution to the case. On March 23, Capt. Hester shared his belief with a reporter than the attacker had left town.